THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 117 
suffer from drought as little as possible, for the very common prac- 
tice of allowing them to become occasionally dust dry, and remain 
so for a day or two, is most hurtful. 
Hardy plants that have been raised from seed, or from cuttings 
in heat, should be protected from frost until they have become suffi- 
ciently hardened to bear the exposure without injury; but if they 
have been in the cold frame all the winter or for a considerable 
period, they will not require any further protection. 
The bedders of the class represented by the geraniums, verbenas, 
and lobelias should as fast as possible be removed from the houses 
and pits to cold frames, to make way for more tender things, such 
as the alternantheras and coleus, now in the stove, and other heated 
structures. Autumn-struck plants that have throughout the winter 
been in freely ventilated structures, and have not been exposed to 
the influence of more fire-heat than was necessary for the exclusion 
of frost, may indeed be now removed to the cradles. For example, 
the calceolarias, petunias, lobelias, and verbenas are all hardy enough 
to be removed from the frames early in the month; but if they have 
been recently propagated, and are still young and tender, it will be 
better to leave them in the frames or houses until the middle of the 
month. The cradles for plants requiring a covering of some kind to 
protect them from frost, should have along the centre a strip of wood 
fixed to uprights two feet in height, for supporting the canvas mats 
or other materials that may be employed for protective purposes. 
The ageratums, lobelias, calceolarias, and indeed all the bedders of a 
similar degree of hardiness may be planted out in a bed of nice rich 
soil, as advised for the hardier kinds, with the full assurance of their 
doing well. Echeverias, and, indeed, succulents generally, may be 
planted in cradle beds in the same manner as other plants, and the 
only point of importance is to allow them sufficient space to increase 
considerably in size without growing out of shape through over- 
crowding. All plants in cutting-pots and seed-pans should be 
potted off separately, or be planted in beds as soon as possible, for 
there now remains a period of about six weeks only before they 
must be transferred to their permanent quarters. Especially is it 
necessary to pot off separately geraniums siruck in the autumn or 
early in the spring that are still. remaining in the cutting-pots. 
Geraniums that were struck in the open borders in the autumn, and. 
potted separately, should, provided the time can be spared, be shifted 
into five-inch pots, and if needful be stopped, to encourage the pro- 
duction of side-shoots. In the ordinary course each of the plants 
repotted will be quite equal to two, if not three, of those allowed to 
remain in the small pots. No shading will be required for any of 
the bedders belonging to the class now under consideration, except- 
ing for a few days after they are repotted or planted in nursery beds. 
The tender bedders comprising the alternantheras and the coleus 
should remain in the stove or heated pit until the first week in May, 
and be encouraged to make a vigorous growth. ‘I'he coleus must be 
placed near the glass and fully exposed to the sun, for a firm short- 
jointed growth from the first is of the utmost importance. They must 
be shifted into five or six-inch pots, if they become pot-bound, a 
April, 
